The Caller-Times will be previewing area high school football teams in the month of August as part of the Two-A-Days series.
Orange Grove Bulldogs
District: 15-3A Division I
2025 Record: 9-3
Head coach: Jared Johnston, third season
Top players
RB Daniel Bahn, RB Ander Schmidt, OL/DL Landon Del Alamo, QB Hughes Klatt, LB Damian Bennett
What to know for 2026
It was an injury-shortened the campaign for Bahn, but Schmidt stepped in and the Bulldogs saw no drop off in the backfield. Now, the two return to give Orange Grove a formidable 1-2 punch at running back after each eclipsing 1,000 yards in 2025. Del Alamo is a force and Klatt saw some action last year, stepping in due to injury as well. Johnston beefed up the schedule with three Class 4A schools and Class 2A state powerhouse Shiner to prepare for stiff battles in non-district, including Class 4A state semifinalist Sinton, which moved to Class 3A in realignment, as the Bulldogs look to build on a nine-win season from a year ago.
Orange Grove head coach Jared Johnston on what excites him about the team
“This is probably the best shape we’ve been in coming in at this time, because 95% were at strength and conditioning. We were able to get things going on Day 1. Our backup running back (Ander Schmidt) had to take over in Week 7 and he ended up rushing for 1,000 yads. He’s back. We feel good about that. We lost our quarterback for five games and (Hughes Klatt) ended up going 5-1 before we got our starter back for the playoffs. That was valuable time for him to get in there. It is not his first time in a varsity game going in. I’m happy with the progress of our new guys on defense. Watching them grow and mature. All five of the teams in our non-district made the playoffs. We are going to be battle-tested early. I wanted to make our pre-district as tough as I could make it, so we could get ready for our district.”
Orange Grove running back Ander Schmidt on the season
“I’m super excited for the season because I feel like we have a really good team with great linemen, receivers and we work well as a team and have good chemistry. We have great linemen and they block like they’re supposed to. They are very aggressive and we know how to get after it. We have very expectations, we work very good as a team. Daniel (Bahn) and I work well as a team. We have good chemistry and we will be able to conserve each other, too. A successful season to us would be getting after everyone.”
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Two-a-days: Orange Grove football brings dynamic duo in backfield
Reporting by Quinton Martinez, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Quinton Martinez, Corpus Christi Caller Times | USA TODAY Network
